Yellow sky concrete factory, Lachine canal

With more wild fires burning up in the north, Montreal had a thin layer of haze tinting everything yellow. In this scene, done at the concrete factory down by the Lachine canal in ville st Pierre, you can see amber-tinted clouds and an eerie green glow from grass and foliage. Trucks were loading up with concrete. 

Yellow sky concrete factory, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, July 2026

This factory worker was taking a break, trying to make a call on his cellphone next to rue st Patrick. I painted this at distance, standing on the same spot as the previous painting. I will try to do figure painting more often, although people never stay still for long! 

Factory worker break, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

 

Still the same spot, looking towards the rear of the factory, there were a lot of signs and pylons, with the parking lot on the right side. I put my initials on the right most stop sign, and year on the bottom corner. So you're like, he just put 26, where are his initials... oh they are on the stop sign. 

Factory signs parking lot, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

 

Where else can an artist paint such a scene? My favorite subject, the Lachine canal, sparkling and rippling, with a concrete highway overpass carrying several transport trucks. In the distance, a hazy yellow Montreal downtown skyline can be seen. 

Trucks over canal city view, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

 

Finally, these tall iron drums were rusted out, and someone spray-painted their moniker in lime-green paint with black detailing. With the yellow tint from wildfire smoke, the rust colour and the lime green colour really popped out. I tinted the clouds with yellow ochre (PY43) and used raw sienna (PBr7) a caramel earth colour, to give the impression of haze everywhere. Part of the canal is seen in the foreground. 

Iron drums PJD26, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026 

Scenes from park and river, windy day

I rode out to René-Lévesque Park, its the artificial peninsula near Lachine that creates the marina. In this scene you see one of the art-deco outdoor bathrooms, a curving bike path, and a few benches that look out onto st Lawrence river west direction. Three groups of flowers were seen, including orange-yellow, yellow, and violet. I used a hue-saturation-value (HSV) fade technique on the path. That is where a pale blue-grey fades to light cream colour. 

Curving bike path outdoor bathroom, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

Also in the park, this view is looking east towards Mercier bridge, with an old poplar tree in the foreground. Today everything had a yellow tinge from forest fires, and the river was greyish-blue. When the illumination is yellowish, blue surfaces become greyish. 

Mercier bridge poplar tree, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

Some peony shrubs grow on the point, complete with olive foliage and magenta flowers. Some red winged black birds were flapping around, chirping loudly. The whole park is populated with these birds, and other bird species including seagulls. 

Sparkling water red winged black birds, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

 

Here is the first painting I did on the trip, its an effort to capture the choppy, grey-blue water with earthy undertones. I mixed green umber (PBr7) with indo blue (PB60) and diluted with water, then used side-drag brushwork to create sparkle, then over-painted brown (PR102) yellow (PY43), and blue (PB15) ripples. 

Windy day river ripples, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

 

Last from the location, a quick and breezy painting of the park, with Lachine visible on the other side, across the marina area. I used the 'Cloud over Trenholme' style to render the clouds, that painting which was done in 2024 remains one of my all time favorites. 

Breezy day Lachine view, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

Looking back, Car seat in hay field, London Ont. scenes

As I paint on the backs of old paintings, I am taking the opportunity to scan and blog about the old paintings done from around the year 2000. For this painting, done on Highway 50 in Bolton, I drove out to an old disused farm and painted a car seat in hay field, with a dilapidated barn in the background. I also took a photo of the scene and did an expanded version which hangs in my parent's house. 

Car seat in hay field, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1999?

Conveniently, the sign on the wall says Bayfield Hall so we know where this one was from. I lived there for about 5 years while doing a PhD at University of Western. I went through a realism phase, trying to turn myself into a human camera or something, LOL! 

Brown eyed Susans Bayfield Hall, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 200x

More interpretive, this apartment building is shades of blue, green and magenta, set against a row of pine trees. Its done up at the mall in the north, a neighborhood called Masonville.  

Apartment over trees, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press,  200x

This was always one of my favorites from the era. It shows a good variety of greens, with trees, grass, the electrical box, and a vent pipe off to the left. The colour mix for the electrical box was a combination of cerulean blue, rose madder genuine, and viridian hue.

Blue-green electrical box, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 2004?

Another good use of cerulean blue in the background elements, it created a nice atmospheric effect. The shades of brown were primarily from burnt sienna, while the water was probably a mix of cerulean blue and burnt sienna. 

Misty river, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 200x

I can tell from looking, this was a really early one, maybe 1997. I had a lighter touch to being with, then went heavy during the realism phase, and opened up again in recent times. I like the breezy feel of these early ones. 

London Ontario bridge vista, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 1997?

Looking back, London Ontario, vistas, flowers, path

Looking back on my paintings from London Ontario, done between 1995 - 2004, here is a vista view of Fanshawe lake. On one side of the lake there is a high cliff area, then it descends to almost water-level. A long path went around the whole lake. I was there with friends, and stopped to paint, then caught up to them later. I just mark these 200x, like around the year 2000. 

Fanshawe Lake blue, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 200x

Here I am standing on one of the bridges over the Thames river, looking back towards the downtown core and Art Gallery. Its the multi-arched structure center right. I fit in part of a bus stop on the right edge too, nice touch, and it helps anchor the composition. If you have a road going off the side of the painting it will draw the viewer's eye away from the center of interest so its best to visually block it off with something.   

City vits art gallery, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 200x

Up in the north part of London, apartment buildings were strewn about old farms. Perhaps nowadays its all developed? This old shack made for good subject matter, and I liked the contrast between a small shack in the foreground with huge apartments in the background. 

Apartments shack old farm, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 200x

This was probably a later piece, so 2004, because I stopped using cerulean blue so much, and also the brushwork here is excellent. Looking at this makes me think I have regressed in the last 20 years!

Lilac and magenta ground cover, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 2004?

Another neat composition, a tree shadow falling across the bike path. In the upper background, some rippling water from the Thames river. Its a cool painting. Since I just scan and show the best ones, its worth noting that most of the paintings from this era were... kind of lousy, maybe 1/5 were good. But it was a continual practice and trying to paint things that "I didn't think I could paint", then see the results. Some effects took me a decade to get right, and even now I have things to work on like reflections and transparencies. I've gotten better at perspective and cars. Painting 'people' is the last hurdle, including figures and portraits which I am currently not very good at.  

Tree shadow bike path, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 200x

Sunset on corner of Walkley and Somerled

On the corner of Walkley and Somerled there are good views of the sunset, it usually sets around the auto shop or behind the Metro grocery store depending on time of year. Here you see artificial lighting from the auto shop set against a pink and blue sky. The dark trees, almost black in these conditions, provide necessary contrast for the effect to work. 

Joe and Ralph auto shop sunset, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

The interior of the Metro grocery store had warm yellow and orange lighting, while outside, the sky was pale pastel. A bit of orange light could be seen coming down Walkley street looking due north. In Montreal, north is closer to being north-west. 

Metro entrance sunset, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

Standing in the same spot, this scene captures the illuminated METRO sign but with my initials and year denoted. A creamsicle-coloured sky completed the effect, along with artificial pot lights on the front of the grocery. It used to be a Steinberg's grocer back in the day.  

PJD Metro sunset, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

 

From a different time and place, this painting was done in London Ontario around 2004, so 22 years ago. It was also a sunset, as you can see from the pale orange light on the right side of the tree, and bluish light on the left. I applied washes, then over-painted bark texture with a burnt sienna mix. I've been painting on the backs of old paintings, and then scanning the good ones. I have a few more good ones from London to show, I will make a blog later this week on them. 

Sunset tree London Ontario, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 2004?

 

Red geraniums, mailbox, bike and tunnel scenes

 I genuinely had fun painting this one, it was complex and took some time, every part of it was kind of neat. The umbrella needed to have delicate white shades against an otherwise grey and green background. These patio sets, which are all around Dorchester square downtown, are a pale emerald green. In the background you see the large bed of bright red geraniums which I captured with a mix of pyrol orange (PO73) and pyrol red (PR254). To get the colours this bright, I used a clean brush and made sure the paint was rinsed a bit on the palette to get full chroma. As I filled in the red and green foliage between the patio set, the whole scene popped, and the umbrella jumped off the page like an impressionist painting. 

White umbrealla red geranium bed, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

From the Maisonneuve bike path, Peel is a narrow one way going north, so you have to go down an adjacent street such as Metcalf. This mailbox was right on the corner of Maisonneuve and Metcalf, you see pat of the bike path in the background. I mainly painted this one because I needed to wait for the background of the next painting (the bike painting below) to dry. I also painted scooters parked in the city from this spot, looking south. 

Mailbox bike path Metcalf, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

I got the background down, let it dry while I painted the mailbox scene, then went back to this one and started the bike going from right to left. Coincidentally, the person who owns this bike came by, unlocked and took off before I could finish. So the back part I had to do by memory, and the wheel looks a little off, but you get the idea! 

Bicycle in shadow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

From Metcalf, there is Dorchester square, then you can cross and get onto Peel which is two-way at that point, and has great wide bike paths on both sides. Peel street is perhaps the most "Montreal" that you can get, it goes all the way through the city, and connects down to the Peel basin. This is a sign for the underground tunnel entrance to highway 136. I've painted here before several times, including a large group of traffic signs.  Currently, the exit half of the highway is blocked off due to the huge construction project up on Peel and Notre Dame. 

Car skidding sign, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

Looking into the tunnel from the same spot, I painted a scene of eerie orange light illuminating cars as the descended into the abyss. Yellow signs decorate the entrance, which is made of classic Montreal concrete. I've done one here in the winter, and a similar scene featuring the huge glass building in the background. Its just a good place to stand, with a huge triangle of grass, and good sun. When the construction is finished, it will probably be less pleasant when the traffic returns. 

Underground tunnel orange, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026 

Peel Basin wild flowers, shadow, ripples

The bike path intermingles with cobblestone down at the Peel basin, Off to the side, there are a few benches and wild flowers growing in a large patch, with little plants sprouting up through the cobblestone. I used perylene maroon (PR179) with a touch of pyrol red (PR254) to get the basic colour of the stones. Brown protrusions, some type of decorative grass, were growing out of a large patch of Queen Anne's lace. The highway arching over the Peel basin is seen in the background. 

Cobble stones wild flowers, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

I was mainly standing here due to the shade from an adjacent train bridge. It was the end of my day of painting and I just stopped on this location for a few more before heading home. I will post the other ones from downtown after this blog. In this painting, I caught the shadow against warm concrete, the basin in the middle ground, and a grain silo in the background, covered in graffiti. 

Bridge shadow, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026

Water rippled as it gently lapped against the old concrete basin walls. Once a big shipping/receiving port, now its a place of recreation and summer festivals. Not to mention a great place to paint! 

Ripples and fence, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2026